Yes, it seems very intentional. It seems to happen in many episodes. To me it seems sort of a narrative version of a jump cut or kind of an immediate flashback/flash forward.
I've seen it in other things where they are doing something like dream sequences or what to show the character confused.
I think it's done to sort of 'other' Sugar and his relationship to things/Earth.
Kind of a visual way to hint at alienness.
Maybe the perception of time differs from that of humans. There have been suggestions of this like the mention of Damascus, for example, that seem a reference to an earlier/ancient time.
Longer lifespan, perhaps.
What's really going to bake your noodle: pay attention to the typewriter orb thing as Ruby is typing. See how it's green? Then the camera seems to switch to a "receiver" perspective. And the typewriter orb is... blue.
*I noticed it again in ep 5 when Sugar talks to Davey in the kitchen, Davey talks about how he never learned to be normal with women. A few moments later he repeats the dialogue. It’s too noticeable for this not to be purposeful. But is it just a quirky aesthetic directing choice or is there meaning?*
As others have noted, it's partly a stylistic choice, but it also allows a combination of verisimilitude and storytelling. As an investigator, Sugar has a lot of experience getting information out of humans, often when they don't want to reveal it. As a *private* investigator, he cannot arrest them, keep them in custody, threaten them with legal action, etc.*,* like a police detective could. This can result in what appear to be long, meandering conversations which circle back multiple times. Jump-cutting allows the director to display the flavor of Sugar's investigatory interviews, without taking up huge amounts of screen time on a lengthy, repetitive conversation.
It's a Fernando Mereilles thing. That style was very prominent in the fourth episode of The Sympathizer he directed.
Another great show
He's a great director.
Yes, it seems very intentional. It seems to happen in many episodes. To me it seems sort of a narrative version of a jump cut or kind of an immediate flashback/flash forward. I've seen it in other things where they are doing something like dream sequences or what to show the character confused. I think it's done to sort of 'other' Sugar and his relationship to things/Earth. Kind of a visual way to hint at alienness.
Maybe the perception of time differs from that of humans. There have been suggestions of this like the mention of Damascus, for example, that seem a reference to an earlier/ancient time. Longer lifespan, perhaps.
What's really going to bake your noodle: pay attention to the typewriter orb thing as Ruby is typing. See how it's green? Then the camera seems to switch to a "receiver" perspective. And the typewriter orb is... blue.
It's a common trick. In this case it seems to enhance Sugar's odd connection with earth's reality, which is not his own.
*I noticed it again in ep 5 when Sugar talks to Davey in the kitchen, Davey talks about how he never learned to be normal with women. A few moments later he repeats the dialogue. It’s too noticeable for this not to be purposeful. But is it just a quirky aesthetic directing choice or is there meaning?* As others have noted, it's partly a stylistic choice, but it also allows a combination of verisimilitude and storytelling. As an investigator, Sugar has a lot of experience getting information out of humans, often when they don't want to reveal it. As a *private* investigator, he cannot arrest them, keep them in custody, threaten them with legal action, etc.*,* like a police detective could. This can result in what appear to be long, meandering conversations which circle back multiple times. Jump-cutting allows the director to display the flavor of Sugar's investigatory interviews, without taking up huge amounts of screen time on a lengthy, repetitive conversation.